Alabama News

General

Man charged with child sexual abuse tried to take investigator’s gun, Baldwin County sheriff says

A Mississippi native has been arrested by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office for allegedly sexually abusing a child.

In a press release, BCSO said that Cordairo Samuel Oneal McCall, 37, was arrested Wednesday after an interview with the Criminal Investigation Division.

The department says that during the arrest McCall resisted and attempted to disarm an investigator.

McCall was charged with sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old and attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer. McCall is being held on a $35,000 bond.

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UA spent 8 years, $121 million saving historic Bryce Hospital. The outcome is stunning

Once known as one of the nation’s finest medical facilities to treat the mentally ill, the old Bryce Hospital building now houses a state-of-the-art student Welcome Center on the Tuscaloosa campus of the University of Alabama.

In 2016, I toured the facility after the majority of buildings were razed, leaving only its original administration building and four wings. It was creepy and fascinating to see its features taken down to the studs and being restored for a new purpose. Obsolete medical equipment was scattered, patient rooms were stripped, floors had been removed and piles of bricks were everywhere.

At the time, the university’s facilities planner hoped the $121 million renovation would be completed by 2020. The pandemic and other issues delayed progress and Randall Welcome Center and a Museum of Mental Health opened in January 2024.

I recently was able to tour the main building again and was impressed with the rescue of this important building that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Eight years after my first tour, much of the work is completed but the massive rotunda and the wings sprouting from the main building are still under construction. Some of that space will be used for offices of faculty and staff for UA’s Department of Theatre and Dance, said Matthew McLendon, Ph.D., executive director of UA Enrollment Management, whose department is housed in the building.

Bryce Hospital gets new life

The hospital opened in 1861 as the Alabama Insane Hospital, sometimes written Alabama Hospital for the Insane, and was later renamed for its founding physician Peter Bryce. Legend says Bryce and his family watched from the building’s rotunda as Union troops burned the campus in 1865.

Peter Bryce was a progressive doctor and his hospital was established as a place where patients with mental illness or addiction were housed in beautiful surroundings and performed therapeutic work in a pastoral setting. It was designed using the then-popular Kirkbride Plan, with staggered wings to allow the maximum sunlight for patients.

To provide a sense of purpose, patients would do chores on the farms or in other areas of the hospital until, in the mid-20th century, courts ruled that patients could not be made to work. The hospital was named one of the five best in the world in the 1880s.

At its largest in the 1970s, the 168-acre hospital compound included farms with crops and livestock, kitchens, doctors’ and nurses’ quarters, parlors for visitors, patient rooms, a community room for dancing and parties, and quarters for the superintendent. Bryce and his family lived on the top floor of the administrative building during his time there. “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” once listed Bryce Hospital as having the longest roofline in the world.

The hospital closed in 2014 and patients were moved to a new mental health center nearby. The old property and buildings were purchased by the University of Alabama for use as a welcome and for office for the performing arts department.

MORE: A look at Bryce in historic photos

The majority of the 1861 administration building was used to create the Randall Welcome Center, where students come when they first visit the university.

The center is named for the late Pettus Randall and his wife, Dr. Catherine J. Randall. It features “areas for prospective students to gather for campus tours, a lounge, theater and UA admissions offices” in its 15,000 square feet, the UA website says.

McLendon said the center has been well-received.

“The response from prospective students, families and guests have been overwhelmingly positive,” McLendon said. “The Randall Welcome Center provides the opportunity for guests to learn about many different aspects of the university through engaging and interactive content delivery platforms. Both students and guests have commented on how impressive the facility is and how the information provided in the interactive space is helpful to learn more about UA.”

In 2016, the hospital’s original administration building and wings were taken down to the studs to begin renovation for the Welcome Center. See the 2016 photos here.

Honoring the history

The hospital’s exterior has been lovingly restored and the original wrought-iron stair railing with a rose design was saved.

“Throughout the building, many of the original features were either preserved or recreated,” McLendon said. “There was a lot of effort and planning that went into the overall project. In the central pavilion is a cast iron staircase from the early period of the hospital’s existence that has been refurbished and relocated within that part of the building. Throughout the building, reclaimed wood from the original building now makes up several areas of flooring and was even used for office signage. Most of the central part of the building along with the space in the west wings were preserved in the same floorplan that was in place when the hospital was operational.”

The museum, created to honor the building’s history, was beautifully designed and curated by the Alabama Department of Mental Health.

“Everyone from prospective students and families to general visitors to the building have taken advantage of being able to visit that space,” McLendon said.

Steve Davis, historian for the ADMH, was largely responsible for the museum, McLendon said. In a 2016 interview with AL.com, Davis said when he worked at Bryce in the 1970s, people would arrive asking for tours of the hospital that was the subject of many local tales. When visitors began interfering with the staff’s work, Davis set up a small museum in the parlor and dining room of the old superintendent’s home, which is now gone. The collection was later moved to the main building in the 1980s and now much of it is on display to allow the public to come in and learn about the history of mental health in Alabama.

The museum is free to visit and well worth your time.

Exhibits include a vintage nurse’s uniform, a set of silverware engraved “AIH,” an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) shock machine used at Bryce Hospital in the 1960s when doctors thought this type of treatment was beneficial in treating mental illness, an antique wooden wheelchair, metal markers removed by vandals from patients’ graves at Bryce Cemetery, medical kits, models of the hospital property, architectural remnants and much more.

The museum also includes a piece of an original door jamb from the main buildings that was signed by carpenters. It said: “A. Anderson, superintendent of Philadelphia carpenters who worked on this institution in the month of August 1860/T. Districh/T. David/W. Whellan/Jeff Jacham/Jackson Bryers.”

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Native Americans won back millions of acres. Here’s how Trump could take them away

For Indigenous people, Native American Heritage Month carries a different weight this year.

Since 1990, November has been a time for America’s first people to share their culture, traditions, music, crafts, dance, and ways of life. These cultural practices have experienced a renaissance in the past 15 years amid a wave of historic victories that have consolidated and returned millions of acres of Native American land, strengthening environmental protection and advancing the fight against climate change.

While these gains are monumental, they are not immune to political shifts.

As Native Americans honor traditions deeply rooted in the land and environment, recent progress faces serious threats under a second Donald Trump presidency. His plans to dismantle environmental protections, combined with cabinet appointments aligned with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025—a sweeping 922-page conservative policy agenda—could threaten tribal sovereignty. The agenda includes the potential opening of federally managed public lands of cultural significance to tribes to fossil fuel extraction.

“Under Project 2025, and a Trump administration, we will go backwards,” said Judith LeBlanc, executive director of the Native Organizers Alliance and member of Oklahoma’s Caddo Nation. “At this point, our main obstacle to practicing our belief systems is climate change, energy extraction, and the selling off of public lands.”

15 years of land progress

Over the last decade, the momentum of the Land Back movement, which promotes the return of traditional Indigenous lands to communal ownership, has gained momentum alongside federal programs like the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, which began under the Obama administration following the 2009 settlement of Cobell v. Salazar.

The landmark class action lawsuit highlighted decades of mismanagement that cost Native American individuals and tribes billions of dollars held in trust. The case underlined how, even in the modern era, the U.S. government was still fighting against Indigenous groups, trying to right the wrongs of the past.

The government settled the case for $3.4 billion, with $1.5 billion going to individual tribes and members and $1.9 billion helping consolidate over 3 million acres of Native lands in 15 states. The program restored fractionated native lands—individual allotments created by the Dawes Act of 1887 and later divided among multiple heirs in later years—to tribal trust ownership, making it easier for tribes to develop and protect their lands.

“The checkboard system of land ownership on many reservations historically left communities and landowners unable to make basic decisions about their homelands,” said during a speech formally ending the program in Dec. 2023. “The Land Buy-Back Program’s progress puts the power back in the hands of tribal communities to determine how their lands are used — from conservation to economic development projects.”

Growing movement for land return

The federal scheme accelerated the Land Back movement’s goal of returning lands to Indigenous control, strengthening tribal sovereignty, and enabling tribes to exercise self-determination over their lands.

The movement has led to numerous municipalities, states, and the federal government returning land that once belonged to tribes. Nick Tilsen, an Oglala Lakota president of the NDN Collective, an Indigenous group spearheading the Land Back movement, called it “a war cry for the liberation of Indigenous people.”

Since 2003, at least 100 tribal land recoveries have occurred involving over 70 federally recognized tribes, an intertribal coalition, and six Indigenous-owned land trusts, according to research by Kalen Goodluck, a Diné, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian journalist and photographer based in Albuquerque, N. Mex.

Goodluck found tribes recovered around 420,000 acres between 2003 and Sept. 2023., through private donations, transfers from land conservancies, land title purchases, and federal and state legislation.

Tribes have reclaimed ancestral lands in Illinois, Virginia, Oregon, New York, Minnesota, and California.

In the summer 2023, on the 5th anniversary of California’s apology to Native American people, the state transferred over 2,800 acres of ancestral land to the Shasta Indian Nation and the 40-acre Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery to the Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians, marking the first such transfer under a new state directive. The Yurok Tribe of Northern California reclaimed 125 acres along the Klamath River, strengthening salmon habitats and ceremonial practices.

Some land transfers have been tiny but significant. In 2023, a water advocacy group representing three California tribes bought a five-acre property from Three Creeks healing retreat. Meanwhile, a private resident in Altadena, Los Angeles County, returned one acre to Tongva Tribe descendants after 200 years.

Environmental benefits to Indigenous stewardship

The land returned to Indigenous stewardship isn’t just a victory for Native communities; it benefits the environment on a broader scale. Tribal lands are often managed with sustainability in mind, blending traditional ecological knowledge with modern science.

The Yurok Tribe’s work to restore salmon populations in the Klamath River, which runs through southern Oregon and northern California, demonstrates this approach. The tribe spent decades advocating for the removal of dams to revive fish habitats and repair regional biodiversity. The last of four dams is scheduled for removal at the end of 2024.

Researchers spotted the first salmon in 112 years in the Klamath River basin last October.

“The return of our relatives, the c’iyaal’s, is overwhelming for our tribe,” said Klamath Tribes Secretary, using the Klamath-Modoc word for salmon. “This is what our members worked for and believed in for so many decades. The salmon are just like our tribal people, and they know where home is and returned as soon as they were able.”

Trump’s 2016 and 2024 environmental policy plans

These practices contrast sharply with the fossil fuel industries likely to dominate federal land policy under a Trump administration. Trump has made no secret of his plans to prioritize oil, gas, and mining projects that, research shows, lead to long-term ecological harm, from polluted waterways to destruction of habitats.

For clues on what effect Trump will have on the Native American community in his second term, just look at his first. Between 2016 and 2020, Trump oversaw sweeping changes to federal land management policies, many of which disproportionately affected Native American lands.

Leadership roles within the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior were filled by individuals who bypassed Congressional vetting. Trump ended the annual White House Tribal Nations Conference, a hallmark of Obama’s administration for eight years.

Early in his presidency, Trump issued executive orders and memorandums rolling back critical public lands and wildlife protections. His America First energy agenda fast-tracked contentious projects like the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, both of which faced fierce and prolonged resistance from Native communities and their supporters. Additionally, Trump slashed the Bears Ears National Monument—an Indigenous-driven initiative—by 85%, undermining its status as a landmark in collaborative land stewardship.

While Native American issues were not a prominent feature of Trump’s 2024 campaign, his broader policy priorities pose significant risks. These include the potential repeal of the Antiquities Act of 1906, a cornerstone of American conservation law used to establish national monuments, many protecting sacred Indigenous sites.

Project 2025, which Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from, explicitly calls for expanded oil and gas development on public lands. These policies could have catastrophic consequences for areas like the Chaco Cultural Historic National Park in New Mexico, where tribal leaders have fought for decades to prevent oil and gas leasing within a 10-mile radius of the park. President Joe Biden ordered a 20-year ban on drilling around the park in 2023 and restricted oil production in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, home to the Gwich’in people.

These protections are fragile. Trump could revoke past executive orders, and federal agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and the Environmental Protection Agency face significant protection rollbacks under a Trump administration guided by Project 2025.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, one of the wealthiest politicians in the country, could play a central role in Trump’s policy overhaul if confirmed as the next Interior Secretary. As governor, Burgum championed strong pro-fossil fuel policies and would manage U.S. federal lands, including national parks and wildlife refuges, and oversee relations with 574 federally recognized Native American tribes as Secretary of the Interior.

Burgum would also lead a new energy council seeking to establish U.S. “energy dominance” worldwide, including managing Bureau of Land Management oil and gas leases, which slowed considerably under Biden.

“He’s long advocated for rolling back critical environmental safeguards to let polluters profit,” the Sierra Club said on Nov. 15. “Doug Burgum’s ties to the fossil fuel industry run deep and, if confirmed to this position, he will surely continue Donald Trump’s efforts to sell out our public lands to his polluter pals. Our lands are our nation’s greatest treasure, and the Interior Department is charged with their protection.”

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On Team Trump, Tommy Tuberville isn’t ‘Coach.’ He’s the waterboy.

This is an opinion column.

When Tommy Tuberville joined the U. S. Senate, he famously failed in an interview to name the three branches of the federal government. It wasn’t a gotcha journalism ambush, but a softball question about whether Democrats and Republicans could work together.

“You know, our government wasn’t set up for one group to have all three branches of government,” Tuberville said. “It wasn’t set up that way, our three branches, the House, the Senate and executive.”

Setting aside that he forgot about the judicial branch, what Tuberville seems to have been trying to say was that split control was the natural way for things to be, and that it wasn’t healthy for one party to have complete power.

That was then.

Fast forward to the present day. It’s unclear whether he ever learned the three branches of government, but now that doesn’t seem to matter so much to him. Tuberville is comfortable with just one.

“President Trump and J.D. Vance are going to be running the Senate,” Tuberville told Fox Business last week.

The Senate Republican majority will support the president-elect’s cabinet appointees, Tuberville said. And those who don’t will be dealt with severely.

“If you want to get in the way, fine, but we’re gonna try to get you out of the Senate, too, if you try to do that,” Tuberville told the host.

It’s their job, he argued, to support the Trump agenda, not evaluate Trump’s selections. To Tuberville, Trump’s support alone is qualification to lead a federal agency.

“It’s not for us to determine that,” he said.

Only, it kinda is. Were Tuberville ever to read the Constitution he swore to uphold, not only would he learn about the three branches of government, but also the duties of the Senate. Those include scrutinizing the president’s choices for cabinet positions.

He should know this. He fought and opposed all sorts of Biden appointments, including, famously, promotions for top U.S. military officers. He just doesn’t want to scrutinize nominees anymore now that Trump is in charge.

Tuberville likes for people to still call him Coach. But that’s not what he does anymore and that’s not who he is.

Under Trump, Tommy Tuberville is the waterboy.

For the last two years, there have been whispers in Alabama that, were Trump to win the election, Tuberville might get picked to lead the Department of Agriculture, or heaven help us, the Department of Defense. But no one seems to have asked Donald Trump whether that was the plan.

Instead, he’s left Tuberville washing Team Trump’s smelly laundry.

Perhaps, like the kid who makes team manager but dreams of being quarterback, Tuberville is trying to make a good impression in case a starter gets hurt.

With Trump’s roster, who knows? His dream might come to pass.

But to see the team Tuberville failed to make, it’s worth looking at who is up for these jobs.

Pete Hegseth appears to have bested Tuberville for the top defense post by having spent more time on Fox News than the Alabama Senator.

Donald Trump wants to turn over the Department of Education — which he promised to eliminate — to Linda McMahon, a woman whose last job was persuading national television audiences that wrasslin’ is real.

As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy Jr., promises to bring plot elements of “Dr. Strangelove” into real life and finally determine whether COVID was an inside job.

And Matt Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general shows that, indeed, Trump could do worse than appoint Alabama A.G. Steve Marshall to that post. In the U.S. House, Gaetz has been a nuisance and obstructionist for other Republicans, including Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, who had to be restrained from attacking Gaetz on the House floor, and has since been investigated for allegations of statutory rape and human trafficking.

Even Tuberville seems to be hedging on this one, something he normally reserves for day-trading.

There are many more Trump picks to pick over, including climate change deniers at the EPA, Vice President Elon Musk and (checks Twitter) Dr. Oz? The list is long and the day is short.

In the end, it’s the Senate’s job to vet these appointments. It’s Tuberville’s sworn duty.

Instead, he wants to forfeit before kickoff.

Not keen on his cabinet having to answer questions about dead bears or how to safely mix uppers with downers, Team Trump has suggested the Senate allow him to make these picks as recess appointments. He’s literally asking them not to show up for work at all.

He wants them to do nothing.

And Tommy Tuberville is just the man for the job.

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Alabama chasing its NFL player record

New England Patriots defensive end Christian Barmore made his 2024 NFL debut on Sunday by playing 21 snaps in a 28-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Barmore made three tackles as he returned to the field after being hospitalized at the beginning of training camp because of blood clots.

His comeback from the health scare made Barmore the 70th Alabama alumnus to play in an NFL regular-season game in 2024. This is the third season in a row that at least 70 who played at Alabama have played in the NFL. No other college program has reached that number in an NFL season.

Now that Alabama has hit 70 again, will the Crimson Tide exceed its record of 72 established in 2023? If it does, Alabama will have increased its NFL representation for eight consecutive seasons.

In 2016, 38 former Alabama players appeared in at least one NFL regular-season game – one fewer than had played in 2015.

In 2017, the number rose to 44, breaking the school’s single-season NFL record of 40 in 1987. The 1987 season featured a player strike and three weeks of football with replacement players.

In 2018, the Alabama alumni who played in the NFL reached 52. It jumped to 62 in 2019 and increased to 64 in 2020, 68 in 2021, 70 in 2022 and 72 in 2023.

Through 11 weeks of the NFL’s 2024 season, two other college programs have had at least 60 alumni play – Ohio State with 63 and Georgia with 60. Last season, Georgia had 58 and Ohio State 57.

With seven weeks remaining in the regular season, how could Alabama reach at least 73 players in 2024?

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Keilan Robinson played at Alabama in the 2019 season. After getting hurt in training camp, the rookie came off injured reserve this week and is awaiting his NFL debut.

Three Alabama alumni who have not played this season are on injured reserve – Atlanta Falcons safety DeMarcco Hellams, Houston Texans linebacker Christian Harris and Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Byron Young – and another is on the physically-unable-to-perform list – Denver Broncos outside linebacker Drew Sanders. Hellams, Harris and Sanders are expected to play this season.

Six other Alabama alumni who have not played this season are on NFL practice squads – Baltimore Ravens guard Darrian Dalcourt, Buffalo Bills safety Kareem Jackson, Cleveland Browns tight end Cameron Latu, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Irv Smith Jr., Los Angeles Chargers offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood and Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Marcus Banks.

Each NFL team can elevate two practice-squad members to active status for each game.

The players who have appeared in NFL regular-season games in 2024 who played at Alabama include:

Washington Commanders defensive tackle Jonathan Allen

Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr.

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis

Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold

New England Patriots wide receiver Javon Baker

New England Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore

Cincinnati Bengals safety Jordan Battle

Los Angeles Chargers center Bradley Bozeman

Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch

Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Chris Braswell

Cleveland Browns cornerback Tony Brown

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jermaine Burton

Cleveland Browns guard Javion Cohen

Cleveland Browns/Buffalo Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper

Miami Dolphins guard Lester Cotton

Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Raekwon Davis

Philadelphia Eagles guard Landon Dickerson

Dallas Cowboys safety Trevon Diggs

Los Angeles Chargers defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe

Tennessee Titans linebacker Rashaan Evans

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick

Cleveland Browns running back Jerome Ford

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs

Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris

Indianapolis Colts safety Ronnie Harrison

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Jalen Hurts

Baltimore Ravens safety Eddie Jackson

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs

New England Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Mac Jones

Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly

Tennessee Titans offensive tackle J.C. Latham

Washington Commanders defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis

Atlanta Falcons running back Jase McClellan

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney

New Orleans Saints cornerback Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry

Houston Texans wide receiver John Metchie III

New York Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley

New York Giants offensive tackle Evan Neal

Washington Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne

Carolina Panthers defensive end LaBryan Ray

Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Jarran Reed

Minnesota Vikings kicker Will Reichard

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Eli Ricks

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley

Carolina Panthers defensive end A’Shawn Robinson

Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr.

Jacksonville Jaguars/Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Cam Robinson

Los Angeles Chargers punter JK Scott

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith

Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Tyler Steen

Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa

Houston Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o

Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson

Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Dallas Turner

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle

Denver Broncos cornerback Levi Wallace

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams

Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle Jonah Williams

New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams

Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr.

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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‘Simpsons’ star retiring after 35 years: ‘It’s been an honor and a joy’

Pamela Hayden, who has voiced Milhouse Van Houten in the “Simpsons,” is retiring from the animated show after 35 years, Fox confirmed Wednesday.

“The time has come for me to hang up my microphone, but how do I say goodbye to The Simpsons? ……not easily,” Hayden, 70, said.

“It’s been an honor and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show, and to give voice to Milhouse (and Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey, Malibu Stacy and many others).

“Here’s to everyone who made this terrific ride I’ve been on possible. Thanks for 35 years!! Be well and happy. My best to you all. P.S. I’ll always have a special place in my heart for that blue-haired 10-year-old boy with glasses.”

Her final episode, titled “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes,” will air Sunday.

In addition to Milhouse, Hayden has voiced Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Malibu Stacy, Lisa’s classmate Janey, among others.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.

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Birmingham radio legends laid off, quit Summit Media stations

More longtime Birmingham radio personalities have left the air this fall as Summit Media replaces hosts with syndication.

On Oct. 29, Kim Moore, also known as The Night Bird, quit her decades-long, highly-rated night show on 98.7 Kiss FM. She worked at the station for more than 25 years.

Moore is one of multiple people who have left various stations so far this year. In June, Darryl Johnson of 98.7 Kiss FM and Young Dil of 95.7 Jamz were laid off. In October, Leo Taylor and Pisani Baldwin of 610 WAGG also were laid off. Baldwin made the announcement on Facebook.

“And just like that the station that has been a staple for our community is no longer as you’ve known it to be,” Baldwin said.

Summit Media owns radio stations around the country and is headquartered in Birmingham. Representatives currently working at Summit Media did not respond to repeated calls or emails from AL.com.

Kiss, JAMZ and WAGG are three urban stations that drove the highest radio ratings in Birmingham, according to Nielsen Ratings.

As of Nov. 20, the hosts have either been replaced by a syndicated personality that’s based in other markets or music has filled the time slot where they were previously on air.

Johnson, Dil, Taylor, Baldwin and Moore had all worked for the company since its inception in 2012. Prior to that, all of the stations were owned by Cox Media where the same talent previously worked.

The hosts took pride in playing music that appealed to local listeners. Now, they say, the stations don’t sound the same.

“They changed the format on 95.7 Jamz, it was as if they were being paid to play certain records, which is an indication of payola,” Taylor said.

Johnson, who was on air at Kiss since 1997, recently developed a health condition. A GoFund Me was created to pay for medical expenses.

Sheila Smoot, previously the news director at Summit Media up until June 2024, will now air “The Sheila Smoot Show” weekly on WAGG and Tuscaloosa’s WTUG, according to a statement she provided to AL.com.

Smoot has had a long career in broadcasting. She said she believes the market is changing.

“Twenty years ago you didn’t have directors of social media. Or you didn’t have digital content creators. You didn’t have those jobs. So when you’re in media positions, you got to understand that’s how it will always be,” Smoot said.

Recent layoffs have caused people on social media to call for a boycott of the company.

Bruce Henderson Jr. commented under Baldwin’s post, “Praying for you all! Time to boycott! If we all stop listening, they will get the message!”

“You can’t fire all our favorite and we still listen to you! I’m livid,” Phoenix Rising said on Facebook.

Under Rising’s post, Rose Walker commented, “I stand with you, no more will I listen to any of these stations!”

In 2023, Summit Media did not budget for the annual live radio broadcast of the “Rickey Smiley Morning Show” for the Magic City Classic. Smiley took it upon himself to host the show at Hoover’s Stardome Comedy Club.

This year, “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show” returned to the BJCC Concert Hall as part of the Magic City Classic lineup through a partnership with the city of Birmingham. Summit Media assisted in broadcasting the show.

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